Assignment for the diesel fans.

[Autobus_Prime]

Hey diesel fans:

First, let me apologize. I don’t really hate diesels, and I even have some favorites. (In fact, I have found old cab units to be awfully nifty once you step into the cab, and see that engine room, and all those big gauges and gray-green paint. There’s something tugboatish about that).

Still, I think a lot of people believe that steam is a religion practiced by its worshippers out of misplaced nostalgia. Well, I have a confession to make. I’ve never seen a steam engine turn a wheel in actual revenue service, and I’ve only seen three real ones running at all. But that was enough.

So here is my assignment. View these…if you dare!

It’s pretty cool to hear a brace of SD45s conquer a hill.
Now watch how it was with steam:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBT8tTe0Hcs
Picture that up close, and with that great mixed smell of coal smoke, hot metal, oil, and steam. Awesome! When a steam engine is working, you really know it!

I have to say this: that Chinese whistle really screams.

But it’s not all towers of steam and slipping drivers. Here’s a clear stack and some speed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qexiUBD1uAY

And the best part, for us, is that we can replicate this in miniature, even though we can’t hope to get that magnificent mid-winter cloak of swirling steam. But to anyone with a fondness for mechanisms, those flailing rods are nothing short of poetry.

And finally, here’s the 844 starting a heavy train:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8BXipiLfwA
What a show, eh? Now imagine all that drama repeated, not just once in a while, but every day, at every railroad station across this country.

So you can easily see, I think, why somebody who completely missed this hundred-year theater of engineering might want to replicate this in miniature.

There’s a lot of this stuff on Youtube. For extra credit, watch at least

[R_T_POTEET]

For those of us who do remember mainline steam - even if it may have been in it’s waning days - there is, indeed, something dynamic about the steam locomotive - all those moving parts and the thunder of the stack talk under clouds of black smoke and the hiss of steam from venting valves; in the late '40s my pappy was stationed at March Field and I lived about a quarter of a mile from the Uncle John main just to the north of Riverside. I have subsequently learned that Onion Specific had trackage rights on that line; there was still a lot of steam in use at that time by both Uncle John and Onion Specific but I can’t tell you just what lokes came down from the north or up from the south; I do remember, however, that when a northbound passenger train with a steam loke on the headend accelerated away from the downtown depot the thunder of it’s exhause was very pronounced and almost always drew us kids to the edge of the field which seperated us from trackside. But the thing which really excited us was STREAMLINER! meaning, of course, EMD’s F-units.

My interest in railroading beyond historical significance only dates from the early '60s and, of course, by that time, steam was dead and railroading was firmly entrenched in the diesel-era. In my HO-Scale days I was a transition-era modeler but when you put twenty thousand growling horses at the head-end of a hundred or more auto racks you have power railroading of the first magnitude. I like it!

[Autobus_Prime]

I do remember, however, that when a northbound passenger train with a steam loke on the headend accelerated away from the downtown depot the thunder of it’s exhause was very pronounced and almost always drew us kids to the edge of the field which seperated us from trackside. But the thing which really excited us was STREAMLINER! meaning, of course, EMD’s F-units.

My interest in railroading beyond historical significance only dates from the early '60s and, of course, by that time, steam was dead and railroading was firmly entrenched in the diesel-era. In my HO-Scale days I was a transition-era modeler but when you put twenty thousand growling horses at the head-end of a hundred or more auto racks you have power railroading of the first magnitude. I like it!

RTP:

Yes, the lure of the new - a powerful thing it is. It probably helped that the F2-F9 is a really nice design. I really think EMD’s stylists outdid their automotive counterparts by miles…came up with something that would still look stylish and modern 25 years later. (It’s hard for us railfans to see the “modern”…it’s an F…try to see it as a non-fan would).

And then there you go with that 20000 hp and autoracks thing…yes, it sounds impressive with all the numbers, and I have to admit there is a certain stage presence to a diesel. I do watch trains.
The diesel is a great machine, yes. But I still say: “earthbound, snorting iron dragon” beats “growling box on wheels” any day!

(Note: Trying to be facetious and solemn simultaneously here. :D)